Weekly Racing Round Up – w.e 28th Aug – Gilberdyke, UTMB & more..

—Gilberdyke 10 mile.

Report thanks to Kathryn Dickinson

—Fleetwith Half Marathon.

10th Richard Walker 01:24:22  (1st M50 )

—Billsdale Show Fell Race.

28th Andrew Johnson 58:27 ( 1st M65 )

—Leeds 5k Series , Race #7.

39th Rob Whitaker 19:42

—UTMB’s MCC 2022.

The MCC 40 km is from Martigny-Combe in Swiss Canton Valais to Chamonix.

Report by Ewan Kirk.

Id originally applied for a place on the OCC race but was unsuccessful in the ballot but was offered a place on the MCC, a slightly shorter race which is normally reserved for locals and volunteers, it’s a race I did already like the look of so I was quite happy to take this place. So, for logistic reasons that I’ll not bore you with the details of I had condensed my visit to Chamonix down this year, arriving the Sunday, running Monday and back home that evening. In quite a contrast to last year, getting through the airport at either end was an absolute breeze, shame about the hour delay in taking off then! Quite a busy transfer from Geneva, got chatting to some runners and hikers and it wasn’t long till we were in Chamonix, bathed in sun, paragliders speckling the sky, and the Mont Blanc summit as impressive as ever.

Anyway, Sunday was mostly spent getting sorted and taking it easy ahead of race day, my airport transfer text for the next day came through too, 18:10 pick up – right then, the race starts at 10, so really the worst case is an 8 hour finish and being a sweaty mess. But I like to have a plan A, B and C, those were pretty much 6hrs, 7hrs, <8hrs, respectively. Fast-forward to race day, no problem getting the shuttle to the start in Martigny-Combe in Switzerland, we’d driven past some of the bits we’d be tackling on the race – plenty of elevation gain to come! – a very pleasant morning, already warm, and we were off! Out we went, uphill from the very start and it would be this way for around 18km at least (except for a drop into Trient due to a route diversion) a bit of runnable terrain past the vineyards before it became a lot more ‘traily’ and the poles and power-walking took precedence.

The first checkpoint and aid station was at Col de la Forclaz, a mere 7km into the race, the elevation gain at this point was 1000m though, so it was a very welcome sight coming into this was quite a nice feeling, well supported and loads of alpine cows, bells ringing aplenty. The sign at CP1 stated the next checkpoint was 9km away, at Col de Balme, the next big climb. Leaving the checkpoint having stuffed my face the route soon turned into a bit of descent, then quite a lot of descent, into Trient. This bit was all familiar to me, I’d run it, and enjoyed it, 12 months earlier and it was just as nice to run it again with the bonus of daylight, Trient is a lovely village with a nice pink church welcoming you as you approach – it was a bit more magical illuminated at night time admittedly. The CCC aid station in Trient was still being set up so we essentially ran through an empty marquee while I reminisced about the rest I’d enjoyed there once before. Now Trient was about 250m below the first checkpoint and now we had to make that difference up again, in the form of ascent of course, along with the rest of the climb to Col de Balme. This felt more of a slog than the first climb up to 7km and was undoubtedly more technical, it became a case of just trying to stick with the people around me, for a large portion of this climb I was behind someone with the surname “Chopin” so I came up with a little dad joke to keep my mind off the gruelling climb (what does a conductor do when they need groceries? They make a Chopin Liszt!). Remember the last CP said it was 9km to Col de Balme? Well we’d done more than 16km (I do a lot of maths on a run to help break it into chunks, so 16km had been in my mind since that first CP) and there was still no checkpoint 2! That sign at CP1 obviously hadn’t factored in the course diversion. A daunting narrow climb which involved the use of an anchored chain the the rock face of the mountain then culminated in the refuge for Col de Balme, where runners were queuing for water and toilets, but this still wasn’t the checkpoint. Shortly after we’d covered 18km and accumulated over 2000m of vertical gain, needless to say the legs and lungs were feeling it. Just over 19km the Col de Balme checkpoint was there! Such a welcome sight as it was mostly downhill from here, albeit a bit tricky terrain in places and with a few little climbs, nothing as tough as those first 19kilometres.